


Our Story

by theartistpirate



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff, romcom, this is so bad i wrote it years ago
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-21
Updated: 2017-06-21
Packaged: 2018-11-16 18:53:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 18,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11258880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theartistpirate/pseuds/theartistpirate
Summary: An older Leo tells the story of how he met his wife to his daughter.Written before HoH came out.Leyna





	1. Where do I begin?

The birds chirped outside, carefree. As they flitted between the tree branches, an old man, lost deep in thought, watched the birds. One bird as if aware of the old man's pensive thoughts, joyfully fluttered to the balcony railing, cocking its heads to the side as if to ask, What's wrong? Why aren't you smiling as you normally do?

The old man sighed and slowly made his way back into his house. As he approached the living room he regarded the large leather recliner, still equipped with an empty coffee mug, for a moment before sitting on a violet chaise longue near the window. After he was comfortable, the man traced his fingertips over the side of the chaise longue before resting on a dark grey wool blanket that was thrown carefully over the armrest. Bringing the blanket to his nose, the man breathed in deeply, smiling slightly at the sweet intoxicating smell of artificially flavored sugar.

The doorbell rang loudly, destroying the eerie silence of the house. After a pause, it rang again, more urgently. Tearing his attention away from the blanket, the old man stood up and made his way to the front door.

As soon as he opened it, he saw a young woman in her twenties, with tears streaming down her face. They didn't resemble each other very much except for the sloped nose and the dimples that could be seen when they smiled. For the most part, the straight black hair, the pale skin, the young woman resembled her mother.

"Papa?" She sniffed before hugging her father. The old man patted her back, taken aback by his daughter's current state.

"Mija," He asked concernedly, "Mija, what's wrong? Come, sit down, I'll make some coffee for you."

The woman nodded and allowed herself to be led to the living room. A few minutes later, the old man returned with piping hot coffee. He laid it down on the coffee table in front of his daughter and sat down next to her on the couch, opposite from the chaise longue. He wiped her cheeks gently and hugged her once more before asking, "Care to explain to me why a beautiful young woman like you is crying?"

"It's just that… I just…" She sniffed harshly before continuing, "Do you think I am ready?" She looked up at the old man with wide eyes, and for a moment he couldn't think of anything else but those obsidian eyes before answering, "No."

She sucked in her breath, "What?"

The old man chuckled, "You are just like your mother. A worry wart." He smiled at the young woman's scowl. Sighing he said, "Of course you are ready. You love this guy, right?"

The woman nodded, "But it's just not the same."

"The same? How many times have you fallen in love?" The old man asked, baffled.

"No Papa! I meant… it's not the same as you and Mama. What you two had, it was obvious that you were made for each other."

"Oh." The old man said quietly. "We weren't 'made for each other'. Our relationship… well, let's say that it was unexpected and…rough."

"Really?" The woman thought quietly for a moment before asking, "How did you two meet anyway? I never heard the story."

"You haven't?"

"No." The woman said.

"Oh." The old man suddenly seemed very interested in his coffee mug, taking a large sip of the piping hot liquid and swishing it through his mouth carefully before swallowing it.

"Papa!" The woman pushed him gently, "Tell me… please!" She smiled at him widely, causing those world famous dimples to show.

Sighing, the man put his coffee down. "Damn it Mija! You know I can't refuse you when you smile like that!" The look in his daughter's eyes showed that she knew all too well that she did.

"Fine." He said indignantly, smiling softly as memories filled his mind. "Where do I begin?"


	2. ADHD and Boredom

Reyna sat at her desk, drumming her pencil at it ferociously. Her strong eyebrows were knitted as she attempted to read the paper in front of her, but she couldn't concentrate. This didn't happen often, as Reyna's ADHD wasn't very severe, but when it did, Reyna wanted to kill.

Instead of killing, she tried to satisfy her need to move by lying on the fluffy red carpet next to her desk and quickly doing twenty sit ups. Feeling somewhat relieved, Reyna sat back down at her desk and picked up a sharpie. She began reading once again, underlining and circling whatever needed to be underlined and circled when she noticed that her desk was shaking. Looking down, Reyna was surprised to see that she had been thumping her foot relentlessly on the dark wooden floor.

Letting out a frustrated moan, she stood back up and did fifty jumping jacks. At this point, Reyna's heart beat was beginning to increase. That should calm me down, she thought. Looking back down at her body, she realized that she was almost jumping.

Fine, she thought. I know when my ADHD wins. She quickly capped her sharpie and ran into her room, throwing a towel and water bottle along with some gym clothes into a small sack. Picking up her keys, Reyna unlocked the door.

"Argentum, Aurum, I am going to the arena." She called out. Immediately, her two metallic dogs came to bid her goodbye. "I'll be back in an hour, so be good."

The dogs barked, in reply. Reyna took that as a, Don't worry, we will be fine! Smiling, she kissed the two on top of their heads and made her way to the arena.

…

Leo was bored out of his mind. He looked down at the gadget in his hands and fingered it; tucking some loose wires back in place and melting the solder onto the ends with the tips of his fingers.

He didn't know what to do. The war against Gaea had left Camp Half Blood in ruins. Many demigods were asked to help rebuild it, but when Leo was asked, he politely declined. He couldn't go back there—too many bad memories. Plus, his best friends Jason and Piper decided to stay in New Rome. As Praetors, Percy and Reyna allowed all Greek demigod refugees to stay with them until Camp Half Blood was rebuilt. So until that happened, Leo was stuck here.

New Rome wasn't bad, Leo had made his way through the city within a week, sticking his head at every shop and having coffee at every coffee shop until he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep for a month. But it all came down to the atmosphere. The Romans weren't very… festive, and Leo wanted nothing more than to get high on sugar and spend the rest of the night making things explode.

"Hey man!" The greeting jerked Leo out of his thoughts and caused his hands to light up, destroying the thingamabob in his hands as he did. Whirling around, Leo found himself looking at his best friend, Jason.

"Ever heard of knocking?" Leo asked, looking around to find out how Jason got into his cubby of a room.

"Ever heard of locking the door?" Jason retorted, falling onto the bed opposite Leo's giant leather recliner. "Why'd you buy that thing anyway?" He asked of the recliner, changing the topic.

"It's comfortable and it holds my coffee." Leo replied with a grin, "And I may have rigged it with weapons. Just in case someone walks into my room and scares me out of my FREAKING MIND! Look at what you did;" he showed off the burnt piece of metal in his hand, "it was going to create world peace."

"Right…" Jason said, "So, Piper is with Hazel doing some girl thing… I was thinking. We don't really hang out anymore. Want to—"

"Yes!" Leo jumped out of his seat, "My brain is melting, and I haven't done anything interesting in days."

"You didn't even hear what I wanted to do!" Jason replied.

"Doesn't matter! I'm going." Leo hopped around his room, pulling a sneaker out from under his bed and the other from on top of his closet. After planting his feet in both, he turned to Jason. "I'm ready."

"Don't you want to change or something?" Jason asked. Leo looked down at his grey t-shirt and jeans. They were clean, except for the oil stains. Scratching his head Leo said, "I think I'm good."

The tall blond just rolled his eyes. "Fine, let's go."


	3. Bonding Experience

"The gym? This is your idea of a best friend bonding experience? I'm disappointed." Leo crossed his arms over his chest as Jason inspected the weapons on the wall.

"First of all," he said, taking his eyes off the swords and daggers and axes that decorated the wall, "this is called the arena. Second of all, it will be fun. Trust me."

"You call hacking each other into pieces, fun?" Leo asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes." Jason replied, pulling out a long sword from its sheath on the wall. He turned to Leo, his face completely straight. Leo prayed to the Gods that he was joking.

"Fine, fine," Leo put his hands up in defeat, "How will we be maiming each other today, J-man?"

"We will each choose a weapon of our choice and fight." He explained, while picking out the appropriate armor. "But there are rules. No using powers," he looked pointedly at Leo [Hey, his pyrokineses wasn't that dangerous]; "we will use the entire arena as our 'battlefield' and scream a codeword if someone gets injured."

The last part, the part about getting injured, worried Leo a bit. Looking at the wall, trying to seem nonchalant, Leo asked; "What's the codeword? 'Help, I'm dying'?"

Jason chuckled, "That could work, but how about we make it: Honeybunchkins."

"Honeybunchkins? Missing Piper much?" Leo grinned, putting on minimal armor, Greek style.

"No, it's a Roman thing. If someone gets hurt, and you want to stop the fight, to symbolize you are inferior, you must call out something embarrassing. Or, that was the rule when we were kids." Jason said, securing his last piece of armor around his waist. For some reason, Leo couldn't imagine Jason as a 'kid'. He imagined a small blond toga wearing superman laughing as some poor Roman kid shouted for a hippopotamus.

"Sheesh, talk about rubbing salt on a wound." Leo looked around before picking out an axe. It was the closest thing here to a hammer, his preferred weapon of choice. "Fine, I am ready. But if I survive this, we are doing something fun. Really fun. Like playing a prank on Frank or something."

"Dude, you shouldn't be so mean to Frank." Jason said, obviously concerned for Frank's underwear drawer.

"I'm not being mean!" Leo said, "It's just fun to tease him. Plus, he practically asks to be pranked. I mean, even his name rhymes! Frank, prank, get it?" He grinned.

Jason responded with an amused look, "Are we going to sit here all day and talk, or are we going to fight?"

"You know, I wouldn't mind talking. We haven't chatted in, how long has it been? A year or something?" Leo replied.

"Quit stalling Valdez."

"I'm not stalling." Leo said incredulously before turning to the left, "Hey, do you see that? I could have sworn I just saw that kid—"

"Come on Leo." Jason replied with a grin before walking out of the artillery room and into the arena.

The arena wasn't your basic demigod training center. It was huge, the size indeterminable by those who hadn't seen it. Some could walk through it and it would be fifteen meters across, others could spend days in it and not get to the other side. But it wasn't as simple as just walking across. There were obstacles, obstacles chosen by the fighters to prepare them for whatever they wished. By using a strong enough 'mist' the demigods were able to trick themselves into believing they were anywhere they want, and proceed to fight in that environment. The demigods in different scenarios rarely met each other, but it was known to happen sometimes.

As Leo walked in, he noticed one demigod wriggling on the floor, another suspended in air watching him like Jason watches any guy who tries to hit on Piper. There were many more, doing equally ridiculous things, and Leo could only wonder where these demigods thought they were. Shaking his head, he followed Jason to the control center.

"How about the Sahara desert?"

"Too hot."

"Manhatten."

"Too crowded."

"The Amazon rainforest?"

"Too wet."

"Leo, you realize this isn't supposed to be comfortable, right? Here, let me choose, a deserted warehouse." Pressing the corresponding buttons, Jason said, "That's okay with you, right?"

"Oh, yeah, right. Deserted warehouses. My favorite." Leo mumbled. He tried to remember, once again, why he was still here and not back in his favorite recliner. I'm with my best friend. I'm socializing. I'm not the freaky fire user who sits in his room all day. Only slightly satisfied with those reasons, Leo turned to find himself in front of a deserted warehouse.

The building was long and grey, with ivy covering the sides. The sky thundered and Leo looked around for the son of the sky god himself, but realized that Jason wasn't there. Deciding to get this over with as soon as possible, Leo jogged to the slightly parted doors at the side of the warehouse. Peeking inside, Leo saw crates and boxes galore.

"So much for a deserted warehouse." Leo whispered to himself. He reached for the one of the boxes to look inside. Empty. Gulping, Leo crept forward, looking around every so often for any sign of Jason. A slight movement caught Leo's eye. He turned around and swung his axe, and not a moment too soon. Jason jumped from Gods-know-where, bringing his sword with him. They clashed and Leo jumped backward, putting some space between him and his best friend.

"How did you find me so quick?" Leo asked, swinging his axe to slash Jason's torso.

"I could see you from the other side. Dude, you are literally steaming." Jason replied, jumping out of the way. Leo took a millisecond to look down and see that he was, in fact, steaming. Focusing on the fight, Leo and Jason parried, Leo usually on defense.

"I can't help it if I'm hot bro." Leo teased, although it sounded more like panting. Leo was a decent fighter; he had been in several battles before. But he wasn't as good as Jason. Jason pushed forward relentlessly and Leo realized he had to do something quick before he was run through. He threw his axe toward Jason, and Jason caught it by the hilt.

"That wasn't really a smart thing to do… Leo?" Jason looked around and realized that the little distraction had allowed Leo to escape unnoticed.

Leo was by no means scared. He crept around the creepy warehouse, stopping behind a particularly large pile of boxes when he saw one. Whenever he reached a bend in the path, he slowly looked around to make sure Jason wasn't there. He breathed, trying to keep his body temperature at a cool seventy degrees Fahrenheit. So far, it seemed to be working. He wasn't steaming.

But Leo knew he couldn't stay this way. The only way the round would end is if one of them managed to tackle the other to the ground for twenty seconds. Harsh, but true. And now, Leo didn't even have a weapon. Leo pondered this, trying to think of a plan. There were two ways out. Either he beat Jason or he allowed himself to get beat up. Nope, I don't feel like getting injured. Not today. So Leo focused on finding Jason. He wouldn't be able to beat Jason in a face to face fight, but perhaps…

And Leo had a plan.

It required him to find Jason first. It was underhanded and sneaky, but Leo didn't have much of a choice. If, by some chance, Jason found Leo first. Well, in that case, Leo was dead. Probably literally.

Leo froze at the sound of footsteps. Jason. He leaned over one box and saw a dark shadow. Leo scampered up the boxes as quietly as he could and crouched on top.

One…Two…On the count of three, Leo jumped onto Jason's back, his arm around the neck. Swiftly he kicked the back of Jason's knees causing him to fall and Leo to fall on top.

But as quickly as Leo had pummeled Jason to the ground, Jason elbowed him and sat on top of Leo, a small dagger at his throat.

As Leo's eyes adjusted, he wondered how he could even mistake Jason for the gorgeous, completely out of his league Praetor that was currently glaring at him.


	4. How Leo Valdez Rolls

Reyna couldn't figure out three things:

How someone managed to attack her from behind.

Why Leo Valdez was the unfortunate soul that managed to do that.

Why Leo Valdez was calling her a "Honeybunchkins".

Pressing her dagger deeper into his neck, she leaned down and hissed: "I am not your Honeybunchkins."

For some reason, this just caused the Latino to shout the word even louder. Narrowing her eyes, Reyna sheathed her dagger and raised her fist. Realizing that she was going to punch the living day lights out of him, Leo yelled, "DAMMIT JASON, COME HERE RIGHT NOW BEFORE REYNA MURDERS ME."

Jason?

And sure enough, the tall blond came sprinting out from behind a pile of boxes.

"What's happening, wha—Reyna? What are you doing?" He asked, obviously appalled by the scene before him. Leo's torso was crushed between Reyna's knees and he was covering his face with his forearms, scrunching his face up like a child. Reyna's fist was a couple of inches above his face, as if she stopped two seconds before actually pulverizing him.

"He… attacked me." Reyna stated, clenching her jaw. Reyna and Jason's relationship, needless to say, wasn't what it used to be. Before Jason went missing, they were close friends. Jason knew almost everything about her, her favorite color, her favorite food. And it wasn't surprising. As Praetors it was mandatory for them to spend time together. Now, things were awkward between them. Jason wasn't the same as before… he wasn't Roman anymore. His girlfriend, Piper, had softened him. And Reyna didn't have time for soft people.

At this, Leo opened his eyes and looked around before settling his gaze on Jason and answering, "I thought it was you."

Reyna narrowed her eyes and looked back at Jason before raising an eyebrow, "You thought I was Jason?" She said, almost spitting the name out in disgust.

Leo looked at his tall blond friend with the electric blue eyes and then to the slim, dark haired Praetor whose fist was still threateningly close to his face. "Umm…" He searched his mind for a plausible response, "It was dark?"

Reyna sighed in frustration and stood up swiftly. "Never come near me again." She demanded of Leo. She regarded Jason coldly before politely saying goodbye. After picking up her gym bag she walked away until she was no longer seen.

…

Leo sat at his normal table, with the rest of the seven. Piper was fluffing Hazel's hair, Percy and Jason were arm wrestling, Frank was the judge and Annabeth was next to Leo trying to figure out whether her new building design was feasible.

But really, all Leo could think about was her hair. Long and dark, it was like a black waterfall. He wanted to touch it. It was probably soft. And her eyes, oh Gods, Leo wished she would glare at him all day long. He wouldn't mind, as long as she was there.

Why this happened to Leo, he didn't know. All he knew was that he like Reyna.

And Reyna hated his guts.

"Leo? Leo!" Leo suddenly became aware of the blond's hand waving in front of his face. "Seriously Leo, you need to stop spacing out. I'm asking you a question." Annabeth said, obviously annoyed.

Taking a large swig of Orange Soda, he diverted his attention to the blueprints sitting in front of him. His engineer mind began working automatically and Leo answered Annabeth's questions until she was satisfied with her design.

"Hey Reyna, wanna come sit with us?" Percy asked, flashing a grin at the Praetor who seemed to have been walking past their table. She looked at each member of the table, slowly and obviously, and her gaze landed on Leo.

Leo squirmed slightly in his seat at the unexpected attention and attempted a smile.

"No." She said coldly after a few moments, "But thank you for the offer."

"Wow, she seemed really upset." Percy noted after it was clear that Reyna was out of sight.

"Gee, I wonder why." Leo looked up at his other best friend, Piper, and gave her a let's-not-have-this-conversation-here-please look. "Leo, what did you do to her?" That look obviously didn't work. Leo reminded himself to work on his facial expressions.

"Pipes, she didn't like me from the beginning. Remember, I kind of blew up the camp?" Leo said, hoping that his more recent encounter wouldn't surface in the conversation.

"Yeah, but she normally comes to sit with us." Frank pointed out, "And you never really bothered her before."

"Plus, she formally forgave you when the camps joined." Annabeth contributed. Leo saw where this was going and decided to avoid the conversation at all costs.

"Hey guys, I just remembered, I built this thing that could blow up any time now." Leo started standing up, "As much as I would like to talk, I don't want another camp disaster on my conscience." As fast as he possibly could, Leo began walking away from his table of friends. Suddenly, Piper's voice cut through the air.

"Leo, come back right now." All the bones in Leo's body froze and began pulling him back to the table. Desperately, Leo grabbed on to the air in front of him to no avail. His butt firmly planted itself on the bench. To everyone else, his exaggerated actions looked comical. But inside, Leo found himself cursing Piper's special ability. "Look at me." Leo's body forced itself to turn toward his friends.

"Piper, I would appreciate it if you stopped using your charmspeak to keep me hostage, I really need to save your sorry a—"

"Leo, tell me what happened between you and Reyna." Piper said with a slightly evil glint in her eyes. Leo looked at the others helplessly, but they all gave him an apologetic expression.

"I… may have… tackled her… a little bit." Leo held his breath, waiting for their reactions. As he expected, all of them laughed, except for Jason who had been there [and witnessed Leo's near-death experience]. "Yeah, well laugh all you want, but I am in a tough situation."

"Leo, why would you tackle her?" Hazel asked between giggles.

"I didn't do it on purpose, I thought she was Jason!" Leo defended himself.

"Why would you tackle Jason?" Percy asked seriously.

"It was a training session, and I didn't see her properly and I thought she was Jason. It was dark… and they kind of look alike, in the normal Roman, 'I hate you' type of way." He got a couple of chuckles in response, but really, Leo wasn't trying to be funny. He didn't want the Praetor to hate him. But none of his friends seemed to notice his serious face as they laughed together. Slowly, so as not to be seen, Leo got up from the table and started walking back to his apartment.

A large mug of coffee. That was what he needed. Coffee, an old microwave and his large leather chair. Maybe he would sulk a little. And then tomorrow, everything would be fine.

"Hey Leo." Leo turned around and was surprised to see that Frank Zhang had followed him. Piper or Jason, he could imagine. Even Annabeth maybe, but Frank wasn't really close with him. In any case, Leo found himself getting advice from the great shape-shifting Roman himself: "Make her something. Apologize to her. She'll forgive you."

Leo regarded Frank for a moment before grinning, "Thanks man. I think I know what to do now."

And with that, Leo started toward his apartment with a new mission in mind. Coffee? Of course. Microwave? Absolutely! Leather chair? Without a doubt.

Sulking all night?

Nope. That's not how Leo Valdez rolls.


	5. Puppy Love

Aurum barked at Reyna as she continued sifting through her paperwork. Absently, Reyna patted his head and took a large gulp of hot chocolate before continuing her work. Aurum barked again and Reyna replied with a hasty, "Not now Aurum, I'm busy."

The mechanical dog whimpered for a moment before toddling out of the room morosely. After a moment, Reyna threw together some papers and looked down for Aurum, "Okay Aurum, wha—"

Seeing that he was gone, Reyna stood up and went looking for her two mechanical pets. "Aurum! Argentum! Come here boys!" A few moments later, she found the two chasing each other in her living room. When she went in, the two stopped and regarded her for a moment before snootily continuing their game.

Reyna sighed and lay on her purple chaise longue, rubbing her temples. After Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter combined, her life had been a mess. There had been an incredible amount of paperwork, not to mention arguing with Octavian. He insisted that they leave Camp Half Blood to fend for themselves. He said they were enemies. Reyna objected as much as she could, but Octavian kept bringing up instances that proved that this was a bad idea.

Leo almost blowing up camp was one of them.

And now, Leo had attacked a Praetor without reason, Octavian would surely use that as an excuse to get rid of the Greeks.

All Reyna could think was why. Why would Leo do something so incredibly stupid? Didn't he realize the delicate balance Reyna was trying to maintain between the camps? Of course not. Reyna had kept every problem possible under lock, no one other than Percy, Jason and Octavian knew the difficulty of combining the camps.

As if that wasn't enough, her dogs were upset with her!

Reyna closed her eyes for a moment, hoping that a nap would ease her worries, when the doorbell rang.

"Of course!" Reyna said out loud. She stomped over to the front door and swung it open; only to come face to face with the person she was irritated with most. She considered the boy with dark curly hair and the impish grin in front of her, holding something behind his back. She had two choices. She could proceed with whatever notion of forgiveness Leo had to offer, possibly ending the problem right there. Or she could slam the door in his face.

Reyna opted for the latter, slamming the door; Leo threw his foot in before she could close it.

"Mr. Valdez," Reyna gritted her teeth, trying to sound as cordial as possible, "Please remove your foot from the door case."

"Look, Reyna," Leo started with an apologetic voice. Seeing Reyna's horrid temper, he quickly stammered, "Praetor, Your Highness? I… I feel really bad about what I did. I shouldn't have attacked you, that was a pretty butt-headed thing of me to do. And I know you probably won't forgive me, but I thought I could still give you something. You know, to make up for it?"

Reyna narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but after looking at his eager face, she sighed and allowed him to come inside.

As soon as he was in the door, Reyna got up and walked to her kitchen, where she normally took her guests, and took out a mug, and began to make some hot chocolate. She turned over to Leo, who had nervously sat on a stool on the other side of the counter. He seemed to be looking around, taking in every detail of her extremely organized home.

"Mr. Valdez, would you like some hot chocolate?" Reyna asked emotionlessly.

Leo looked at her sink where there seemed to be five mugs already stained with chocolate. "Umm… sure… So you like hot chocolate?" He said, attempting small talk. Reyna gave him a withering look.

"I believe you are smart enough to figure that out on your own, Mr. Valdez." She replied, flipping her long braid over her right shoulder before reaching for some marshmallows on her shelf.

"Did you know that hot chocolate is my favorite hot beverage, right after coffee?" Leo asked [he had a bad habit of talking a lot when he was nervous], "And you don't need to call me Mr. Valdez. That makes me sound older and richer. Although that's not really a bad thing." He stroked his chin in thought, "Possibly taller. Maybe an inch or two. What do you think?"

Reyna barely glanced in his direction and answered, "I sincerely hope that adding an inch or two to your stature won't increase your ability to irritate."

"Yeah, well, you can call me Leo." Leo said, disregarding Reyna's comment. He sat there silently praying to Hephaestus that Reyna would forgive him. He realized forlornly, a moment later, that Hephaestus had to be the worst God to ask for help in the love department. He could barely keep Aphrodite in leash. And nothing he could do would help him get closer to a daughter of Bellona—a Goddess of war. Leo sighed and sat in a gauche silence.

Reyna finished making the hot chocolate and put about twenty marshmallows in her own hot chocolate, giving Leo only two. She put the mug in front of the son of Vulcan. She stood where she was, on the other side of the counter and delicately took a marshmallow from her hot chocolate and ate it. Leo took a sip and peered at Reyna's overflowing marshmallows, almost accusingly, but didn't say anything.

"I hate coffee." Reyna stated, "It's bitter."

Leo resisted the urge to say, "Yeah, that's not the only thing that's bitter." But mentally slapped himself. How could he be so attracted to someone, yet hate her so much at the same time? Instead, he said with all the cheer he could muster, "Well, I guess we are all entitled to our opinions. For example, I think that you should forgive me and take my gift."

"What's the gift?" Reyna asked, unable to keep her ADHD at bay.

"You have to forgive me first." Leo replied cheekily. Reyna glared at him, and Leo stared back, a smirk evident on his face.

After who-knows-how-long, Reyna sighed and averted her eyes. "Fine, I forgive you."

"I could've gone all day without blinking." Leo confided before bringing out the gift that sat on the counter next to him.

Reyna regarded the gift. It was a small metal box with intricate carvings on the outside and writing in Greek. She couldn't read the Greek writing and reminded herself to learn the language as soon as she could. Not so she could read the box, she told herself, but for her duties as Praetor.

"You can open it." Leo piped in. Reyna gingerly picked up the box and turned it around in her palm before opening it. When she did, Reyna's face turned red.

"Valdez! What is this?" Reyna sputtered, looking at the ring in the box.

"Oh, no, don't get the wrong idea." Leo clarified, "I propose only after I have been chasing a girl for a month. I just put the gift in the shape of a ring." Seeing that Reyna was not appeased, he took the ring from her. It was made of celestial bronze, a thin band with a round mount on top. In the middle was a pearl and around it were engravings, not unlike that on the box.

"When you turn the ring clockwise, it turns into a sword. When you turn it counter clockwise, it turns into a torch, like your mom had." Leo showed her. Reyna tested the ring and found that it worked exactly as Leo said, and the fact that he had done his research on Bellona pleased her.

"I owe you an apology, this is a wonderful gift." She stared with wonder at the ring and slipped it onto her finger. Leo smiled as she looked appreciatively at her hand.

"Oh, and there's another thing. If you press the pearl on top, it serves as a dog whistle. So Aurum and Argentum will find you no matter where you are." Leo pressed it and her mechanical dogs came running into the kitchen. Immediately they pulled Leo off of his stool by his shirt, and he fell to the floor with a loud thunk. Reyna's eyes widened and she ran to the other side of the counter to see her dogs engulfing Leo Valdez in oily licks, with him giggling hysterically underneath.

"Huh. That's… handy." Reyna said, looking back at the ring. "Thank you Mr. Valdez."

"No problem Praetor." Leo said between laughs.


	6. Mutual Associates

"So that's it?" His daughter replied, putting down her empty coffee mug.

"That's what?" The old man replied, slightly fazed after his story was interrupted.

"You and mama. You became friends, then best friends, then you got married…" She smiled, leaning into her father's arms. "That was easy." The old man snorted [a strange sight to see], and laughed, laugh lines etched around his eyes.

"Don't you dare think for a moment that we were friends." He scolded his daughter, "In fact, right after Reyna pried her dogs off of me, she asked me, politely of course, to leave. And we didn't see each other for another month." The woman gawked at her father.

"I don't get it. You didn't see each other for a month?"

"We weren't friends. We were…" The elder man searched his mind for the right word, "mutual associates."

The old man received a strange look from his daughter. She scrunched up her nose and furrowed her brows in thought. She looked so much like her mother; the old man's heart sagged in distress. Sighing, he continued, "Well, of course we saw each other. When I had lunch with the six, we exchanged a nod when she walked by. Sometimes, I would take time from my extremely busy schedule and walk to the Camp Jupiter grocery store to buy more coffee where I would see Reyna stocking up on marshmallows and licorice. You know how your mother feels about her groceries.

Once, I was visiting Jason at the Praetor quarters and accidently walked into a room where Reyna was yelling furiously at Octavian." He chuckled at the memory. "Obviously, I excused myself. Really, I pitied Octavian for having to bear Reyna's wrath."

Right now, the old man wished he could bear his wife's wrath. His gaze went over to the purple chaise longue and he wished, oh how much he wished, that he could put his arms around his wife again. Where was her furious temper when he needed it? Where was that self satisfying smirk when he made a mistake? Where was the girl whose hair smelled like lavender?

Seeing that her father's troubled state, the woman put her hand on his shoulder and said, "You miss her a lot, don't you?"

A small smile wavered on the man's lips, "Yeah, I do Mija."

"It's okay if you don't want to finish the story," the woman recognized her father's emotional condition; he wouldn't get out of his funk for at least a week.

"No, no. I'll finish the story. Let's see, where was I? We didn't see each other for a while. But exactly a month later, almost to the day, we met again." The sad smile grew on his face, "Ahh! That was a strange meeting, but a wonderful one all the same. It's when your mother and I became friends, you know."

"Really?" The woman asked, "Well, go on!"

Sensing his daughter's impatience, the old man rose to his feet and picked up the coffee mugs. Slowly, slower than one should at his age, the man walked to the kitchen and placed the mugs in the sink. He heard a distinct wail of annoyance, "Papa!" come from the living room and he shook his head to himself. Really, sometimes the likeness between mother and daughter was amazing.

By the time he reached the living room couch, his daughter was almost jumping. "Papa, sit down and tell me what happened, or so help me, I… I…" She trailed off, unable to think of a suitable threat. After thinking for several moments, she relented, "Just tell me."

"Of course, so yes. I wasn't really a sports buff like Jason, but, I did like to run. You know, to clear my mind, work off the coffee, get some sun. But on that particular day, I wasn't the only one to go on a jog." The old man's eyes twinkled as he continued the story, the perfect, almost serene setting, a memory he could not shake.


	7. More than a Crush

Leo wasn't really a sports buff like Jason, but, he did like to run. You know, to clear his mind, work off the coffee, get some sun. But on that particular day, Leo wasn't the only one to go on a jog. It was about six thirty in the morning, and Leo had been up all night working on a design for a mobile robotic microwave. After drinking at least a dozen mugs of coffee, Leo was in no condition to sleep.

Clad in sweatpants and a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, Leo jogged through the streets of New Rome, waving to people of interest walking by and winking at girls who didn't look twice in his direction. But Leo was not put off, no; he was in a wonderful mood. The sun was incredibly bright; there was a slight breeze and the smell of freshly cut grass wafted through the city.

…

Reyna woke up at five thirty, exactly, and wore her pressed shorts and gym t-shirt. She tossed her Ipod in her pocket and threw her hair into a messy bun. Quickly gulping down a glass of milk and munching on an M&M granola bar, she met her beloved automatons at the door.

"Good morning guys, how was your sleep?" She asked cheerfully. The dogs responded with enthusiastic barks and continued bounced slightly in place, a bit more energetic than usual. Reyna frowned at the sight, but waved it off. The dogs were probably just excited for the jog. She took a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped some dark oil from Aurum's mouth and smiled. "Liked your breakfast, right boy?" She received a playful lick on her nose and Reyna laughed. Unlocking her door she urged her dogs out and began jogging, her two sidekicks trailing her in a V formation.

She jogged along the cobblestone sidewalk, turning around a corner into the depth of New Rome. As she made her way through, she listened to some upbeat techno, her strides in sync with the music.

Reyna turned another corner, quickening her pace. She saw Percy and Frank talking worriedly to themselves from the corner of her eye but thought nothing of it. Frank was known to worry for no apparent reason. Still, to appease her own concern, Reyna made a mental note to talk to him about it later.

About thirty minutes into her run, Reyna began to feel drops of sweat slide down her brow. With the back of her hand she wiped it off and grimaced, continuing her pace. It had seemed as if today was going to be a beautiful day, but it took all of Reyna's will power not to stand in the shade to rest her back from the battering heat of the sun.

Reyna didn't like to lose. And in her books, the only way one could lose was if they quit.

Reyna didn't quit.

So she continued on for some time until, all of a sudden, her dogs ran in front of her and attacked what seemed to be a very familiar head of curly dark hair.

…

Leo didn't really like animals. He was never fond of cats and he found rabbits creepy. Plus, Frank's ability to shape shift gave him jitters.

But even Leo had to admit that he had a soft spot for Reyna's automaton dogs. They were machines. And his father had made them no less, so his affection for them was somewhat justified.

But, he had an exception to the rule. Leo liked the dogs as long as they weren't… well… crushing him. When the dogs first ran to him, he greeted them happily, stopping in his tracks and opening his arms, accepting their enthusiastic licks with charm. However, the dogs seemed a little bit on edge today. They threw themselves on Leo, causing him to fall backward, wrestling him as he laughed. It was only when Leo noticed Argentum's left ear jerking sporadically when he realized something was wrong.

His eyebrows bunched together in a knot, and he attempted to push Aurum aside so he could take a better look at Argentum, but this caused Aurum to roughhouse with newborn determination.

"Hey, guys, calm down, let me take a look at you!" Leo said, suddenly very scared. It was all Leo could do to keep the dogs from crushing his ribs, and when he saw the violent red tint in Argentum's eyes, he knew that he was in danger. He tried reaching for the back of their ears—a spot that if scratched properly, would turn them off—but his strength was no match for the pair of metallic dogs.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Reyna marching toward him, a concerned look in her eyes. Leo pried Aurum's paw away and called out, "Reyna, press the button!" Then he felt a hard thump on his head and soft spirals clouded his vision until all he could see was blackness.

…

Reyna smiled to herself as she saw her automatons affectionately playing with Leo in the sand. She loved her dogs and tended to be in a better mood when they were happy. She thought about her last encounter with Leo, which had actually ended quite like this one had started. Perhaps she had been a bit hard on him, kicking him out of her house, but he hadn't seemed offended by her reprimand.

If was then that she heard Leo say something to Aurum. She couldn't quite make out what he had said, but the laughter had left his voice completely. He sounded scared. Reyna began walking toward him slowly, and saw that he was actually fighting to sit up. He was reaching for the back of Argentum's ear…

Leo looked at her for a moment before shouting, "Reyna, press the button!"

The button? Reyna's mind immediately told her to reach for her ring. She did so quickly, her finger's quivering. What was wrong with her dogs? Would they be okay? She quickly pressed the pearl in the middle and looked up to see her dogs stop suddenly and turn to her.

Leo lay unconscious behind them.

Reyna's praetoral instincts kicked him. Immediately she went up to her dogs and scratched behind both their ears, with a little remorse. Once they had frozen in place, Reyna crouched next to Leo and took his pulse, as was obligated of her.

"Oh my gods, what happened?" A voice asked. Reyna turned around to see that a group had formed around the scene.

"Nothing!" Reyna snapped at the boy, irritated that no one had stepped in earlier. Many people liked Leo, why wouldn't they? He was lighthearted and, although no one would admit it, the life of the party. Surprised at how rude she sounded, Reyna took a breath and repeated, this time with less ferocity, "Nothing. Do you mind helping me take him to the infirmary?"

The boy nodded and proceeded to help lift Leo by the arms as she held the legs. As they walked away, Reyna could hear a wave of whispers overcome the crowd behind her.

Poor Leo… attack… Reyna's dogs…all her fault…


	8. Two-Freaking-Weeks

Reyna just didn't understand why people thought this was her fault. It wasn't like she programmed her dogs to purposely attack Leo and give him a concussion. Although Reyna would never say it out loud, she did nothing half way. If she wanted to kill Leo Valdez, she would have done so already. Without any proof that she was the one who did it.

Plus, she didn't hate the Greeks, contrary to popular belief. She liked Percy well enough, and was amiable to Annabeth. She actually respected Piper and so many other Greeks that had come to stay in New Rome. The only Romans that didn't like the Greeks were Octavian and a few nervous followers.

Still, rumors spread like wildfires. Remember, they all said, when Leo was possessed by the eidolon? He attacked camp! And Reyna was furious! What about the time, they gossiped, Leo accidentally jumped on her in the arena? No wonder she hates his guts.

Reyna didn't hate Leo's guts. She was actually very indifferent to them. His guts, that is. No one knew, it seemed, about their little apology session at her house. No one knew that Reyna had already put those matters behind her.

It didn't seem to matter. Just an hour after Leo was taken to the hospital, she began to receive dirty looks from people. As Praetor, it was her job to do what was best for her people. However, the job of Praetor came with an unspoken rule: People must like you.

So, Reyna decided, probably putting about five minutes of thought into the decision, that she would do everything in her power to help Leo. Maybe, if people saw how nice she was being, the bad propaganda would vanish.

Maybe.

…

Leo's head hurt. A lot. He really felt like someone had switched his brain and his heart, his head thudded constantly. He was so groggy and at the same time, so much in pain. All he wanted to do was…

What was that? That voice? Leo strained his ears and heard a deep male voice saying, "He's in critical condition. Not only does he have a severe concussion, but he also broke several ribs, dislocated his shoulder and sprained his wrist."

"I don't care what happened to him," A slightly more feminine voice snapped, "I just want to know if he will be okay!"

"I can't promise anything, but if the Gods wish it, he will live." The deep voice responded.

"Si di illud… That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Do you know how many people are waiting in the waiting room for him outside? Almost the entire camp!"

"As I said before, I will do what I can. All we can do now is give him ambrosia and let him rest."

"Fine!" The voice snapped. "Fine." She repeated more dejectedly, "I'll leave now, but I will be back tomorrow morning. I expect a detailed report."

"Of course Praetor."

Praetor? Reyna was there? Leo attempted to sit up, but his body didn't respond.

Reyna! He tried to call out, but no voice came to him.

"Did you hear that?" Reyna asked, the frown of disbelieve evident in her voice.

"No, I didn't hear anything." The deep voice, probably the doctor, said, concern seeping in.

"Oh. Never mind." She said quietly. All Leo remembered was the sound of her rapid footsteps becoming quieter before he fell back into unconsciousness.

…

"Look at him; he looks so cute when he's unconscious!"

"Piper, really?"

"Sorry Jason, I was trying to lighten the mood. Everyone's depressed and… and..."

"Yeah, I know."

"Especially Reyna, everyone thinks it's her fault." There was a pause. "I don't think it's her fault. Not really. She's been here three hours a day, every day since the accident. I really think she cares. You know?"

"The Vulcan kids did say that her dogs really had malfunctioned. She must have skipped a tune up."

"She's a busy person. It probably slipped her mind."

"Yeah, but look at the cost. I lost my best friend."

"Jason! You haven't lost him yet!"

"I don't know what I would do if—"

"Jason, he's my best friend too! And you know what he would say if he saw you in this state? He would say that you're acting un-Roman. He would tell you to man up until the real man, Leo Valdez, King of Microwaves, came back."

Jason chuckled sadly, "You're right."

"I always am."

…

"Reyna?" Reyna frowned and nestled deeper into the couch. "Reyna!" The voice was hoarse and weak, but slightly cheeky at the same time. "Don't tell me you've been here all night."

"Go away." Reyna mumbled, pulling her dark purple sweater tighter around her.

"I would, but I'm attached to these wiry things. I think it's going into—is that my blood? That's nasty."

"Leo Valdez, I swear, let me sleep or so help me—" Reyna stopped mid shout and opened her eyes. Leo Valdez? She found the Latino boy attempting to sit up in his bed. Rubbing her eyes, she stood up quickly and walked over to Leo. She held his forearm and helped him sit up, propping some pillows behind him. When she finished, she looked over to see Leo grinning at her.

"So, should I know why the Praetor of New Rome is asleep in my room?" He waggled his eyebrows.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Reyna replied, matter-of-factly. It wasn't like his other friends hadn't slept on the uncomfortable chair placed awkwardly in the hospital room. It was perfectly normal for her to sleep there. As Praetor, she should care about the people who landed in the infirmary. It was part of the job description. Or, so she told everyone around her.

Leo laughed, "Why wouldn't the great Leo Valdez be okay?" attempting to flex his arm muscles. As soon as he lifted his hand up, a jolt of dizziness swept through him, and he leaned back into his pillow.

"Well," Reyna began, "the great Leo Valdez has been unconscious for almost two weeks."

"What?" Leo sputtered, "I was out for two-freaking-weeks?"

"Yes. Two-freaking-weeks." Reyna replied seriously. "Everyone thought you wouldn't make it." When she saw Leo's confused look, "you weren't recovering at all, you hadn't woken up… your best friends almost gave up on you. It wasn't looking too good for you."

Leo suddenly looked less cheerful and looked toward the beeping machines. He knew what it felt like to lose somebody. Imagine what his friends had gone through...

Reyna watched Leo's gaze shift and a sullen look settled upon his face. "Leo, it doesn't matter. You're better now, I'll go call the Doctor." Reyna turned toward the door and glanced at her watch: 2.57 am. With her luck, no one would be awake. Luckily for her, she didn't have to find out.

"Reyna. Stop." She looked back at Leo, who was obviously deep in thought. "Don't tell anyone until morning. I… I want to think."

"About what Valdez?" Reyna said, impatiently.

"About how beautiful you look when you're asleep." He replied cheekily. After a quick glare from Reyna, Leo sighed. "I just want to rest a bit more. If we call the doctor, everyone will know I'm awake and I won't be able to sleep."

"Really Leo? You've had thirteen days of sleep."

"Yeah, so three more hours won't hurt." Leo's eyes widened and Reyna's heart [despite her best efforts] dropped a little. She sighed and sat back down on the chair.

"Fine, but if anyone gets mad at me, it's totally your fault." Reyna pointed out. All she heard in reply was: "I can't believe it...Two-freaking-weeks."


	9. A Book by its Cover

In the week that followed, Reyna visited Leo every day. Sometimes she would stop by for fifteen minutes and other times she would stay for a consecutive twenty five hours. Most of the time, Reyna watched Leo's sleeping figure. Other times they chatted about weapons and sugary foods.

Whatever they did together, Leo enjoyed the company. Mainly because Reyna was a no nonsense sort of person. She never gave him special privileges because of his injuries. Piper, on the other hand, would pamper him to no end, bringing him chocolate and warmer blankets and asking him constantly if he was okay.

Above all, Leo enjoyed seeing Reyna look uncomfortable. This sounds rude, of course, but he really did. Reyna hadn't apologized. Not that she had to; it wasn't really her fault that Leo was in this condition. In any case, she hadn't apologized and being around Leo obviously made her uncomfortable. It was this break in her rigid façade that Leo enjoyed seeing.

Most of the time, he would use this to his advantage and poke and prod at her. He made fun of her and flirted with her to no avail. The fact that Reyna took his audacity with stride made him like her more.

He actually enjoyed her company. Sometimes she made jokes [sometimes meaning barely] and sometimes she told stories. Some of her stories were wonderful [like the story of Aurum secretly stealing all of Octavian's unstuffed animals and burying them in the cemetery] and some were truly terrible.

But she always looked beautiful.

Leo never judged a book by its cover. And although he had had crushes on beautiful girls before, he had never actually cared about them as much as he did for Reyna. He didn't know what it was. The fact that although she never laughed at his jokes, he knew that she was the only one who understood them. Or maybe that when she felt left out, she pretended to be content with the situation, but in reality, was mentally praying that someone would need her assistance elsewhere.

Maybe it was her long black hair, always pulled out of her face, a single braid hanging over her shoulder. Maybe it was her cheekbones, high and proud. Maybe it was her heavy brows that only emphasized her dark gaze. Maybe it was her expression, serious yet surprised, not upset, but slightly amused.

Leo never judged a book by its cover, but how could he not love a girl who brought him coffee every day?

…

"Reyna!" Leo complained, relying heavily on his crutch to stay standing up. "Why are you taking so long?" Leo hadn't bothered to brush his hair that morning [come to think of it, he never really did] and his jeans bunched awkwardly trying to cover his cast.

Reyna rolled her eyes and internally smiled. Paying for the coffee and hot chocolate, she picked up the mugs and walked back to Leo, who was waiting by the door of the café. "Why," she retorted, "Are you so impatient?"

"Because I like my coffee hot, not slightly warm." Leo responded, grabbing a mug from her hand and taking a quick chug. As soon as the liquid went into his mouth, he scrunched his eyebrows and spit it on the ground. "This isn't coffee." He squeaked and handed her the mug.

Reyna sighed and gave him the other mug, taking a small sip of her hot chocolate with extra sugar and marshmallows. "Patience is a virtue."

"Yeah, well, I like to get things done fast. You should know this. As fast as possible. Like this stupid cast, why do I have to wear it? I mean, I…" And Leo babbled on about his old invention: a set of robotic legs that he could maneuver around on until he was healed, as they hobbled down the path. "So what if it pinches a vein a little, not a biggie. Right?"

"Doctors orders." Reyna replied shortly. She wasn't paying attention. She had yet to receive Aurum and Argentum from the Vulcan kids and had a pile of paperwork sitting on her desk. And here she was, walking with Leo Valdez.

She didn't hate Leo. In fact, sometimes, she found his company amusing. But in the back of her mind, there was always a voice whispering, "You never really cared about Leo getting better. You just wanted to show everybody that you hadn't purposely attacked him. You aren't really friends. This is a show."

"Reyna, you okay?" Leo had stopped walking and was watching her concernedly.

"Of course I am. Keep walking." Reyna ordered, but she stopped with him nonetheless.

"Look, I know you weren't really invited. But everyone's going to be okay with it. I mean, you aren't intruding or anything." Leo said. "No one blames you." No one blames her? Everyone blamed her. But, Reyna was glad to know that Leo didn't. She followed him as they came to the edge of camp, near a meadow where she saw the rest of the seven hanging out. They had told Leo to come, if he was up to it. And Leo had invited Reyna to come with him. Reyna consented, of course, but she wasn't sure what the reaction of the others would be.

"HEY GUYS!" Leo yelled, waving his free arm in the air. "NOW THE PARTY CAN REALLY GET STARTED! WOOOOH!" And he hobbled as fast as he could to join his friends.

Reyna walked, slightly embarrassed, behind him.

…

Surprisingly, everyone accepted her. With the exception of Jason's glares, she was made felt welcome with the group. For the most part, they all just hung out, laughed and talked. It was obvious just how close Jason and Leo were from their constant bickering.

"Dude, throw it away."

"No man! It's mine."

"You found it on the side of a road on garbage day!"

"So?"

"So it's ugly and old and broken and it smells like…" Jason wrinkled his nose, "like a gas station."

"That isn't a good reason!"

"It's a perfectly good reason."

"Piper, tell him to back off!" Leo whined.

"Jason, leave Leo alone." Piper warned her boyfriend, smiling a bit.

"No. Sorry Piper, your charmspeak won't work. The stench of the chair is too overpowering." Jason argued.

"Reyna!" Leo called to Reyna, who was patiently listening to the entire conversation. "You're Praetor, tell him that you'll give him some Roman punishment if he touches my chair."

"I would," Reyna said, "but Jason's also a Praetor."

"Damn you weird Romans with your weird power system. What if I battle you to the death?" Leo asked Jason.

"There will be no battling to the death!" Annabeth said suddenly, breaking the conversation.

"You can be on Team Leo if you want." Leo offered. Annabeth gave him a look Reyna felt proud of.

"Leo… guys, I want to tell you something." Annabeth said, standing up so that everyone paid attention to her. "Actually, Percy and I both wanted to tell you something." She said, looking over at Percy who was sitting next to Frank and Hazel.

"Holy Hephaestus, don't tell me you guys are getting married." Leo said, his eyes widening with excitement.

"Oh, Gods, no, Leo! Just listen to me." Annabeth laughed, "Percy and I decided that we are going back to Camp Half Blood to help with the reparations."

The group fell oddly silent. None of them had ever felt obligated to go back and help fix Camp Half Blood, mainly because of the huge battle they had just won and the fact that everyone else, with the exception of Leo and Piper, was Roman. It had never crossed their minds, but it was obvious that Annabeth would go at some point. She was an architect. And Percy wouldn't leave her alone.

"Go for it." Hazel piped up and looked at everyone else for encouragement. "Camp Half Blood needs you."

"Yeah," Piper said, nodding, "You should go."

"When are you leaving?" Reyna asked. If they were leaving soon she would have to make preparations. A sending off ceremony, not to mention transportation…

"Tomorrow." Annabeth said shyly. No one said anything for a moment.

"Well then," Leo said simply, "Let's party."


	10. In Which Many Bad Things Occur

Leo nodded his head with the beat of the hard rock music, playing from his makeshift radio as he created his plasma thrust generator. The small cabin below the deck of the Argo II was where Leo made his creations and stored all his trinkets. To the left of Leo's desk was the entrance, and to his right was a large metal skeletal cabinet on which he kept his tools and radio. It had taken him five hours, with the help of Jason, Percy, Frank and Annabeth to finally get the cabinet in the room. It was only after they put it in the room that they realized how unstable it was. They figured that it wouldn't harm anyone, so they didn't bother to put a new one in.

Behind the cabinet was a small supply closet where he kept his materials, glue, duct tape and so on. But, as of now, it was almost empty. Leo had just finished a big project and hadn't bought any supplies yet. The closet only held the essentials.

Leo tossed away his soldering iron when it didn't heat quickly enough and used his finger to melt the wire into place before moving on to the next piece. Loud music echoed on the walls and Leo stopped for a moment, playing his air guitar as the lead shredded.

Most of the time, Leo wasn't in the mood for rock. He was more of a Spanish-pop kind of guy, but the volume and intensity of rock music helped take his mind off of things. Today, he was thinking about Reyna. Well, he was always thinking about Reyna.

It had been about a month since his accident, and he had hung out with Reyna every single day since. He didn't know why she was actually wasting her breath on him, but he was glad nonetheless. Who cared why she decided to stick around, he was just happy that she did.

With that thought he busied himself with his new plasma thrust generator, bobbing his head to the music.

…

Reyna didn't understand why Leo liked locking himself in the most difficult to reach part of the ship. Reyna had been reading the newspaper and drinking some raspberry lemonade when Piper had run up to her, completely out of breath, "Hey… Reyna… seen… Leo?"

Reyna looked up slowly and recoiled at Piper's state. The daughter of Aphrodite, who normally looked gorgeous, was glistening with sweat, her right sleeve torn to pieces and her hair completely out of place. Usually, Reyna remained stoic around Piper. She didn't hate her; in fact, she was glad that Jason had found someone to be with. It's just that, in her experience, Reyna found that daughters of war didn't mesh very well with daughters of love.

"What happened?" Reyna asked, completely shocked by Piper's state.

"Leo's apartment… it's on fire." She gulped for air, "Jason and I went in to use his automatic speaking oven-thing… and it malfunctioned. Can you get him? Jason and a few others are putting out the fire."

"Of course." Reyna ripped the lid off her lemonade and gulped what was left before sprinting toward the Argo II.

Now, she was walking through the dark creaking corridors, calling out Leo's name. She had been here a few times before, but couldn't remember where his room was. After a few moments, she could hear the sound of music coming from his workshop.

Reyna ran toward him.

…

"Where's some grease when you need it?" Leo muttered to himself, scratching his head. After peering around his desk for several moments, he sighed and made his way over to the supply closet behind the cabinet.

"Leo!" He heard someone calling him faintly over the music. He poked his head out of the supply closet and saw Reyna looking into his workshop. She said something to him, but he didn't hear. Instead, he motioned her to come to the supply closet.

She came quickly and stepped with him inside the closet. "Help me find the grease!" Leo shouted at her. She gave him a funny look and shook her head. Realizing that he wouldn't be able to hear her, Reyna took Leo by the shoulders and pushed him out of the supply closet. Instead of going along with her, he turned around, accidently hitting the cabinet behind him.

Reyna's eyes widened as the cabinet tottered and finally decided to fall on them. Quickly, she pulled Leo inside the supply closet when the door slammed behind him and the awful sound of the cabinet crashing behind the door was heard.

The radio, apparently, had fallen, and the heavy sound of silence filled the room.

Reyna panted, her eyes adjusting to the darkness around her. She heard Leo, to the left of her mutter, "¡Mierda!" under his breath.

"What happened?" Reyna asked putting her hand to the doorknob, it turned but when she pushed it, the cabinet kept the door from opening.

"We're locked in for the time being." Leo said from somewhere near her. "I guess we will just have to wait until someone finds us."

"But… but…" Reyna said, suddenly aware that she was locked in a small, dark, crowded closet. "They won't come."

"Of course they will. Jason always comes to get me so we can have dinner with everyone. He'll be here in a while."

"No! They won't! Your apartment is on fire. They won't come looking for us until they realize we are missing." Reyna said, her voice quivering.

"My apartment is on fire? Hades, no wonder you looked so worried. But chill Reyna, someone will come for us." Leo assured Reyna, looking for her figure in the darkness. He sat down against the wall. When she didn't reply he chuckled, "You know, I wish that cell phones didn't attract monsters; one would be really handy right now."

Reyna didn't answer. Leo blinked, "Reyna? Hey, are you there?"

She didn't respond. Worried, Leo lit his finger on fire and looked around the closet to find Reyna curled up in a ball, sitting in the corner, her eyes wide with fear.

…

"Let go of me! You can't take us!" Hylla screamed. Reyna looked around wildly, the entire Island had been taken over by pirates. She and her sister had been hiding in the kitchens when the pirates found them. Everyone was gone. Only they were left.

"We can do whatever we want with you, wench!" The pirate spat at Hylla, pulling her by her wrists while the other one gagged her.

Reyna didn't know what to do. She had never felt so hopeless before. Why hadn't the others taught them how to fight? How would she defend herself?

Hylla shouted at Reyna to run, and without thinking Reyna sprinted out of the kitchens into the once-lavishly decorated lobby. Everything looked so bare. The golden statues had been taken, the beautiful paintings no longer graced the wall and the curtains had been slashed. As Reyna ran she noticed stains on the marble floor—was that blood?

Reyna shuddered but ran with newfound determination.

It was only as she managed to get to the garden when she realized that she couldn't really escape. She was on an island, surrounded by water. Even if she managed to hide until the pirates left, she wouldn't be able to leave. No one left Circe's Island.

Reyna fumbled as she decided what to do. Hide? Run? Pray?

Before she could make a choice, a pair of rough hands grabbed her from behind and began pulling her away. Reyna struggled with all her might, but was no match for the large ugly pirate. "Fiesty, ain't she?" He chuckled to his friend once they had reached the ship.

Reyna took this as an opportunity to bite his wrist before trying to run again. She reached the railing of the ship and looked down at the beach. She was too high up. Even if she jumped, she would break both her legs in the attempt.

"What the hell do ya think you're doing wench?" The pirate made a grab for her, but Reyna moved fast, lunging out of the way. She grabbed his arm and suddenly a feeling swept over her. An instinct forcing her arms to move the way she wanted. With all her might, she twisted his arm, making him howl in pain. She kicked his stomach and ran over to the other side of the ship, where she saw a rope cascading down to the beach.

It was just as she was about to escape that she heard her sister scream. Reyna paused and saw her sister struggling in a pirate's grip, his rapier to her throat. "Ya make a move, lass, and I'll kill this lovely little thing."

Reyna saw the look in Hylla's eyes. She was begging Reyna to take this opportunity to escape. But Reyna couldn't. She couldn't leave her sister alone with pirates. Slowly, she let go of the rope. One pirate came and punched her in the face, causing Reyna to yell in surprise. They dragged her below deck, where it was cold and damp. She could smell death.

"Don't worry ya pretty lass." The pirate laughed, "We'll come back for ya." He threw Reyna into a closet, only small enough for her to sit in fetal position.

They kept their promise. They came back for her, and every time they were done, she was thrown back into the same little closet, bruised and bleeding.

And alone.

…

"Reyna?" Leo said tentatively, slightly scared of Reyna's vulnerability. She was crying and he had no idea why. He reached down to wipe her tears, but before he could she flinched away.

"No llores, querida." Leo said in a hushed voice, sitting down beside her, "Estoy aquí."

…

Reyna barely got to see Hylla. It was by pure luck that the pirates had left her alone. Immediately, Reyna had got up to find her. Hylla was in a cell, at the very bottom of the ship. It was humid and hot, the pungent smell of rotting bodies wafted through the area.

The sisters hugged each other through the cold, metal bars. Hylla stroked her sister's hair, "No llores," Don't cry, "Estoy aqui." I'm here.

Reyna wept in her sister's arms until a pirate found her and threw her back into her respective closet.

…

Reyna leaned into Leo, crying against his arm. Leo decided that the best thing to do was let Reyna cry until she had no more tears left. He knew nothing could stop her. He had cried like this before. He knew what it was like.

It didn't help that he could feel Reyna's cold fingertips on his burning skin. He couldn't bring his body to stop being tense. Her salty tears ran down his arm. Hesitantly, he stroked her hair and whispered, "No te preocupes" again and again.

This seemed to calm her down significantly, but she refused to let go. Finally, when the sobs stopped, Reyna sniffled, "I still remember."

Leo had no clue what she was talking about, but nodded nonetheless.

"The pirates… they, they…" Her voice caught, and Leo felt her shudder against him.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Leo said softly, suddenly terrified of what Reyna might tell him.

Reyna told him anyway.


	11. Beasts, Love and Self-Pity

The woman stared at her father sadly, unsure of what to say. Her mother was a strong person, she always knew that. But nothing could have prepared her for this sad truth. How many times had her mother pushed her harder and harder when she had begun to learn hand combat? The same thing had happened in school, in camp, everywhere. The woman remembered how she would complain to her father, but he would just smile and tell her to suck it up.

Now she knew why. Her mother wanted her to be able to defend herself. She didn't want her daughter to feel helpless like she had.

"By that time, I knew that I had fallen for her, Mija." Her father's soft voice startled the woman out of her thoughts. She had forgotten for a moment that he was telling her a story. "I always did fall for girls who were way out of my league. It had happened before. She was Praetor, she was beautiful."

He sighed happily, "But Mija, that's when I knew that I truly loved her. For the first time in my life, I felt like… I needed to protect somebody."

The woman noticed her father clenching his fists. She laid her hand on his shoulder, an attempt to soothe him. Her father wasn't the type of man to get angry, but when he did, his wrath was worse than anything her mother could have. The old man took a deep breath and covered his face with his hands.

"So, what happened?" The woman asked, hoping to move her father out of these dark thoughts. "Did they find you?"

"Yeah. They found us, the next morning of course. Jason, that knuckle-head, finally figured out that the guy, whose freaking apartment was on fire, wasn't there!" Leo grimaced at the memory. "By that time, Reyna had gotten into such a state. After she had told me the story, she couldn't stop shivering. She managed to go to sleep. But only after several hours. I fell asleep too, just because I was exhausted and I had no coffee.

"I remember, being fast asleep. It was the first time I had a dream since the war. But it had nothing to do with being a demigod. It was just a dream about Reyna crying. No…it was a freaking nightmare. Reyna wasn't meant to cry. It was unnatural." He shook his head, as if hoping that he could shake the memories out with them.

" Jason and Frank ended up finding us. It was a good thing Frank was with him, otherwise, the shelf would have been impossible to move. I don't even know what he turned to. I could have sworn it was a rhino, but I never figured out.

When they finally opened the supply closet, I remember Jason shaking me. I was a bit disoriented, I mean, you don't just wake somebody up like that, you know?

I realized that behind Jason, Frank was trying not to smile. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, thinking that I drooled. Which I did of course, but then Jason said, 'I see the two of you got comfortable down here.'

I looked down and realized that Reyna had fallen asleep on my shoulder and was still hugging my arm. It looked bad, obviously. I was kind of… well I don't know…especially since nothing had really happened between us. So I said, 'Dude, I wish' and I woke her up.

So, shaking someone awake isn't the best method to wake anyone up. Especially Reyna. She literally smacked me upside the head and threw a dagger to my throat before even opening her eyes. That girl, damn, she was a beast! I didn't say anything. What do you say to someone who just told you their deepest secret? I wasn't even sure if Jason knew about it or not, considering that they had been Praetors together for a while.

'Leo?' She had sputtered. She looked around wildly before noticing Jason and Frank in the room. Then she looked at me and suddenly her face became red. Extremely red. She stood up and sheathed her sword before running out of the room. I didn't even get to say anything. I remember thinking to myself, 'There it is Leo. She's embarrassed of you. Why would the Praetor actually want to be with a mechanic?'" The woman blinked for a moment, trying to process what her father had just said. She hadn't pegged him for someone who would indulge in self-pity. He tended to boast his achievements and act smug, although jokingly.

"Yeah… I was an idiot back then." The father said, noticing his daughter's expression. "Let me finish, you'll understand eventually. Anyway, where was I? Right. I was wallowing in grief after Reyna had walked out on me and I was alone with Jason and Frank. After a couple of minutes, Jason had asked me, 'Ummm… do I want to know?'

I said, 'I don't even think that I know.' I don't remember much after that. Just that they had taken me to Frank's apartment. Jason and Piper didn't have any room for me in their apartment, so I had to stay with Frank until my new location was figured out.

I didn't mind really. Frank wasn't so bad, neither was his apartment. I just didn't understand one thing. Why was Reyna embarrassed of me?" The old man leaned back into the couch, looking over at his daughter. The woman saw the sadness in those large brown eyes. He continued, "I mean, that woman. Seriously. And people think men are the clueless ones… I loved her.

Couldn't she see that I would have fought a million pirates, just to keep her safe?"


	12. Frankly, Frank Was Fed Up

Reyna closed her eyes and went through her mental to-do list:

Meet with Octavian.

Ignore Leo's missed calls

Take Argentum and Aurum for a walk

Avoid Leo

Paperwork

Buy Jellybeans

Forget Leo

Since the night in the closet, Reyna had tried her best to busy herself. The busier she was, the less she would think. The less she would think, the less she would think about Leo.

Leo.

His name made her blush all over. She didn't really know what had gotten over her. She just remembered being scared, and remembering. It was dark and cold, and she remembered cuddling against Leo, who was warm to touch. When he put his arm around her, she hadn't felt safer.

And that was what bothered her. After all these years, after being raised on Circe's Island, after being kidnapped by pirates, Reyna had become self-reliant. She was an independent woman. She never needed anyone to make her feel safe.

She didn't want anyone to protect her.

Every instinct in Reyna's mind screamed at her to avoid Leo at all costs, even though her heart wanted to do the opposite. She couldn't face the boy she had told her darkest secrets to. How could she? Now he knew the truth. He knew how vulnerable she really was.

Leo was her one weakness.

Leo was the one who could protect her and the one that could hurt her the most.

…

"Hey Leo, how're you doing?" Piper asked, poking her head into Frank's guest room—the room Leo was currently occupying. Leo lay on his leather chair, staring at the ceiling. He didn't respond.

"Want to go out?" Piper tried again, this time infusing some charmspeak into her voice. Leo didn't respond.

"You can't stay locked in here forever man!" Jason called from behind Piper. Leo lifted his arm, much to Piper's delight, and slapped it over a thingamajig with a button on it. Suddenly a voice resonated through the room.

"You have five seconds to remove yourself from the doorway." A woman's voice said kindly. Piper shook her head, confused.

"Wait a second—" The door began to close.

"Five."

"Leo, just—"

"Four."

"Leo!" Jason called angrily from the other side.

"Three."

"Please, Leo, stop it!" Piper cried out.

"Two. One." The door closed and the lock automatically clicked into place.

Leo stared at the ceiling.

…

"Hi Reyna." Hazel peeked into Reyna's office quietly. "Can I come in?"

Reyna looked up for a moment and pushed the papers she was currently working on to the side, "Of course Hazel. Come in." Reyna inadvertently took a handful of jellybeans and popped some in her mouth. Had Hazel come to speak about Leo? No. Reyna wouldn't discuss that matter. Not at all.

Hazel sat down across from her, her hand folded in front of her. "I was wondering. You know how Frank's birthday is coming soon?"

Reyna breathed in relief, but knitted her eyebrows. Frank's birthday? She couldn't recall, but so as to not seem rude, she nodded anyway. Hazel continued, "Well, I'm throwing him a surprise party. Everyone is coming. I just wanted to invite you."

Stunned, Reyna leaned back into her chair. She was being invited to a party? Well, she had gotten somewhat close to the seven over the past couple months. It would make sense. But, would Leo be there? Reyna pursed her lips, unsure of what to reply.

"We are all dressing up as animals, or, well, creatures, I guess. You know, because Frank can shape shift and stuff. So everyone will be in disguise. No one will know who anyone else is. Unless you discuss it beforehand…but it's supposed to be anonymous." Hazel said carefully, watching Reyna's every move.

A costume party? That wasn't really Reyna's style, but she didn't see how it could hurt. No one would know who she was. Reyna smiled, "I'll be there" before putting the rest of the jellybeans into her mouth.

…

After a day, Frank managed to break the door down. He had assured Jason and Piper that he would take care of Leo, and ushered them away. They were reluctant at first, but eventually gave in.

Now, Frank looked at the room, and shivered at the sight. Leo lay on his leather chair, which had miraculously survived the fire, in the same position he had seen him last, hair messed up, staring at the ceiling.

The side tables were littered with coffee mugs but the rest of the room was vacant. The sheets on the bed hadn't been touched and the floor was bare, as if no one had walked on it. Leo was still wearing the same clothes as three days ago.

Frankly, Frank was fed up. Leo was such a drama queen. As if surviving on nothing but coffee for three days and not showering was going to solve anything.

Frank wasn't really sure what was going on. He knew something had happened between Leo and Reyna. He didn't even know what to think about the closet scenario. Blushing, Frank rid himself of the thought. He grimaced as he remembered when he had brought Leo to his apartment. Leo had called Reyna.

Fifty two times.

Each time, she didn't answer. Each time he left a voicemail, something along the lines of, "Reyna. I need to talk to you. About last night… like, right now. Pick up!"

Every voice message ended with Leo angrily slamming the phone down and mumbling something in Spanish into his hands.

Really, Frank didn't know what to do. All he could think of was getting Leo out. Frank tried everything to get Leo out. He asked him politely, he screamed at him. He even doused him with water—which evaporated as soon as it touched Leo's skin. Frank was surprised that Leo hadn't set his leather chair on fire in his angst.

Finally, Frank decided to play on Leo's weakness.

"Leo, I don't know whether you are listening or not. To be honest, I'm not really sure what's going on in that mind of yours. I don't want to know. But you know Hazel? Well, her birthday is tomorrow, and I am throwing a surprise party…"


	13. You Snort When You Laugh

When Frank explained that he was throwing Hazel a birthday party, Leo listened, and soon the gears in his head began to turn like a well-oiled machine. Party? Reyna? That was all he could think about. If Reyna came to the party, maybe he could talk to her…Immediately he sat up and gave Frank strict orders for the party: invite everyone, order food and play good music.

Frank sighed and leaned away as Leo explained frantically what must be done. Get helium filled balloons in the shape of hearts. Don't let silver and gold streamers be put up. Only yellow and purple.

At this point Leo noticed Frank's smirk and stopped, "What?"

"Nothing." Frank said quietly, "It's just good to have you back."

Leo knitted his eyebrows and groaned internally. He had been extremely dramatic the past couple of days, he understood that now. Three days surviving on only coffee? Setting up an automatic door-locking-thing? It was insanity, and Leo began to feel slightly ashamed of the way he behaved. Of course Jason and Piper must have been freaking out. Even Frank looked concerned! He vaguely remembered Hazel knocking on the door and calling to him, but Leo had ignored her. He had made all his friends worry about him, all because he was heartbroken.

"Hey! Don't blank out on me now!" Frank said, waving his hand in front of Leo's face, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry," Leo mumbled, massaging his temples. "I just can't believe I did that."

"Leo… look. I don't know what happened between you and Reyna. But you can always talk to us about it. You don't have to, you know." Frank gestured to the coffee mugs on the side table.

"Geez, you sound like my therapist." Leo laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

"Seriously, don't do that again." Frank said, not even a crack of a smile on his face. "Jason was about to go over to Reyna's house and give her a piece of his mind. He still hasn't gotten over your accident."

"Wow, that would have been bad." Leo imagine his best friend and Reyna arguing. It wouldn't end well considering that they were possibly the two most stubborn demigods he ever knew.

"Yeah." Frank said, standing up and wiping the dust off his pants. "Well, anyway, it's over. You are back to normal, right? Want to talk about Reyna?"

Talk about Reyna with Frank? Leo nearly doubled over. Instead he said, "Nahh! You don't need to worry about that. So…" Leo looked away, trying to seem nonchalant, "…about this party…"

…

"Leo's up there." Frank said, plopping down on the couch.

"I just got Reyna on the roof-terrace too and I locked them there. I put the chair back in front of the door, like you left it." Hazel said with a smile, sitting down next to Frank.

"They won't be mad, right? Afterwards, when they figure out what we did?" Frank asked, furrowing his brow. "I mean, they'll understand, right?"

Hazel shrugged, "I don't know. I don't care. I'm not unlocking the door to the roof until they figure themselves out."

"Are you sure?" Frank asked again. This time he received a slap on his arm.

"Frank Zhang, if you ask me one more time if I am sure, so help me, I'll lock you up there with them." Hazel said sternly before reaching into her purse. "Anyway, I got two movies. Which one do you want to watch?"

"What?" Frank said incredulously, "We're watching a movie? What if they need help? What if something happens to them up there?"

"Nothing will happen to them, trust me. I figured a hundred and eighteen minutes is enough for them to sort things through." Frank shook his head, but took the two DVDs anyway.

"They're both horror movies."

"Yup." Hazel said.

"But I'm terrified of horror movies!" Frank exclaimed. Yes, he had been in more dangerous and scary situations then anyone could count, but monsters and gore still made his stomach churn.

Hazel laughed as she put a random DVD in. She sat back down next to Frank and intertwined her fingers into his. "Don't worry. I'm here for you."

…

Did Reyna just hear the door lock? She tried to turn the doorknob, but the door wouldn't budge. This unnerved Reyna slightly, but it didn't matter. Reyna was sure there must be some other people on the roof. It was where the party was. Reyna continued walking, but soon felt confused. Where was the music? The balloons?

More importantly, where were the people?

"Hello?" Reyna's eyes widened when she heard the voice, oh gods, that voice, say her name. She turned around and was startled to find Leo, hair messy as always, wearing a white button down shirt with a loosely tied golden tie and straight black pinstripe pants.

He looked just as confused as she did as he regarded her outfit, suppressing a smile. Reyna realized how odd she looked, wearing a black feathery dress with a bird mask that covered her entire face. "I hate to break it to you, but Halloween isn't for another two months." He laughed.

He didn't recognize her. Reyna almost sighed with relief as she touched her mask, just to make sure it was there. She put her hands on her hips and said, "I was told there was a party up here."

"If you mean Hazel's birthday party, it's down in the park. I was actually going to go there too, but Frank, her boyfriend, asked me to get some party supplies from the roof. Although, now that I think about it…" He scratched his head for a moment before shrugging. "Anyway, it wasn't a costume party."

"So you got locked up here?" Reyna confirmed, not processing anything else.

Leo nodded, "I think the lock is faulty. Either that or the door was blocked. I couldn't manage to unlock it."

The door was blocked? Hazel's birthday party? Not a costume party? Reyna was already suspicious, but she knew now that something was wrong. She had been tricked.

"Either way, we are stuck here until someone rescues us." Leo said.

Sighing, Reyna sat down, allowing her skirt and legs to dangle off the building. She looked down at the empty street, the lampposts dimly lit. Reyna was stuck, alone with Leo. She didn't know what game the fates were playing, but she was ready to tear someone to pieces.

"So, what's your name?" Leo asked, sitting down next to her. Reyna didn't reply. Leo sighed, "I'm Leo by the way."

Reyna nodded, looking away from him. After a few moments, Leo spoke again, "I know I'm gorgeous, but really, there's no need to keep pestering me." Reyna could almost hear the grin in his voice, without meaning to, she laughed shortly.

"I don't want to come off as rude, but I'm not in the mood to talk." She said quickly, looking at him properly. He was smiling, but for some reason, she felt that he wasn't happy. There was as strange sadness in his eyes that she wanted to slap right off of his silly face.

"It's okay, I get it. You had a hard day, huh?" Leo said leaning back onto the palm of his hands and staring at the sliver of moon that glowed in the distance.

"You have no idea." She found herself replying.

"Want to talk about it?" Leo asked. Reyna shook her head. "Well, let me tell you, I've had a hard day too."

"Oh really." Reyna replied hesitantly. She wasn't sure she wanted to discuss why she was having a bad day—or three days—with the cause of the problem. Fortunately, Leo continued talking.

"Well, you see, there's this girl. Absolutely gorgeous. A bit scary, but when she smiles, well, I stutter. And I, Leo Valdez, don't normally stutter."

"I see." Reyna replied shortly.

"And three days ago, she basically told me that she didn't like me back." Leo sighed, "I've survived on coffee ever since. Well, today I had a big breakfast just because Piper thought I would pass out, but other than that, coffee."

"She said that she doesn't like you back?" Reyna asked, attempting to keep the fury out of her voice. She had said no such thing!

"Well, no…" Leo said slowly, "We were stuck in a closet together and when our friends found us, she ran away. Like she was ashamed of me! We didn't do anything in the closet, but even if we had, she shouldn't have just left! Without saying a word. And when I called her, she didn't pick up. I must have called, like, a hundred times."

"I don't think that means she doesn't like you." Reyna said defensively. Is that what it had seemed like? She tried to clarify, "She just needs time. She was probably scared that you had gotten so close to her. She's just unsure of taking the next step."

"Oh, come off it Reyna! That's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard in my life." Leo muttered under his breath. When he realized what he had said, he blushed.

"Leo!" Reyna said accusingly, "You knew who I was?"

"Kind of." He replied sheepishly.

"Since when?" She demanded, taking off the mask and placing it beside her on the ledge.

"Since you laughed at my cheesy pick up line. You snort when you laugh. It's cute." He smiled although his eyes were still defensive, as if she could break him any second.

"But I was wearing a mask!" She sputtered, feeling absolutely ridiculous. Then she had a thought. "Did you set this up?" She accused.

"First of all, your mask can't hide your freaking gorgeous eyes." Leo said pointedly, "Second of all, this was all Frank and Hazel's doing." He huffed. As an afterthought he said, "I'm kind of proud of them though."

Again, there was an uncomfortable silence. Leo didn't offer anything to say and Reyna squirmed, her ADHD beginning to act up. Deciding that they would have to discuss it eventually, Reyna started, "Leo. I'm sorry."

Leo raised his eyebrows, "Did the Praetor of New Rome just apologize to me? The lowly mechanic?"

Reyna looked at him darkly, "You aren't a lowly mechanic—you are my best friend. And yes, I did apologize. I was a jerk for leaving you and not answering your calls. But it wasn't because I didn't like you. I was scared." She finished quietly.

"No, it was my fault too." Leo said, "I should have given you some space. That… that was a lot to unload."

"Yeah." Reyna whispered, not wanting to revisit those dark thoughts. Leo looked over at her and placed his hand on hers.

Squeezing it he said, "You aren't there anymore Reyna. You're here, with an idiot on the roof of a building, under the stars and moon."

Reyna smiled at his rhetoric and looked up at Leo. In the moonlight, his dark brown eyes stood out against his tan skin, and his black hair seemed almost silver. But what Reyna couldn't help looking at was his smile, that undying smile that remained on his unbelievably satisfied face.

Without thinking twice she pressed her lips against his before pulling back. She blushed madly, mumbling something of an apology when she noticed Leo's shocked expression and the fire at the ends of his hair.

"You just kissed me." Leo stated, dumbfounded.

"I did." Reyna replied matter-of-factly.

"That means you do like me." Leo confirmed.

"Yes!" Reyna laughed exasperatingly.

Allowing his usual charming grin to grace his face again, Leo asked, "Can we kiss again?"

Reyna responded to that by leaning toward him and gently kissing his mouth. Leo grinned as he cupped her perfect face in his hands.

Pulling away, he muttered, "I hope no one finds us until morning." Reyna laughed, swinging her arms around his neck.

…

"I honestly can't believe we did that!" Frank exclaimed, rushing up the stairs. Hazel bounded after him, just as worried.

"I'm sorry, this is my fault." She replied, helping him move the chair out of the way.

"No, no. How were you supposed to know we'd fall asleep during the movie?" Frank said unlocking the door, "I just hope they didn't kill each other."

"I know. I'd hate to find that they'd hacked each other to pieces up there." Hazel said concernedly. Frank looked at her worriedly as they walked until they found Leo sprawled out on the floor with Reyna curled up [well, as curled as she could get wearing her large feathery dress] beside him. Both of them had fallen asleep holding hands.

Hazel smiled, "They are so cute."

"Should we wake them up?" Frank wondered, reaching toward Leo.

"No!" Hazel said quickly, "We'll leave the door unlocked, so they can get down. They'd be embarrassed if they figured out that we saw them."

"Okay…" Frank said slowly, "Wanna get breakfast or something?"

"Sure." Hazel said. The two looked once more on the sleeping couple before walking back to the door the led downstairs. "We can't leave this chair in the middle of the staircase, someone could get hurt. Let's drop it off at your apartment before we go. "

Frank picked up the chair, ready to take it down when his stomach growled.

"Sorry." He said guiltily. "I'm really hungry."

Hazel sighed, "Okay, leave it here. We'll get it later." She began walking down the stairs.

Frank absentmindedly pushed the chair toward the door and followed quickly Hazel down the stairs, "Wait for me!"


	14. Rumor Has It

Leo sat beneath a tree fiddling with a scrap of metal in his hands. The metal was warm to touch and reflected the intense light of the sun onto the leaves of the trees above him. Absentmindedly, Leo whistled, kicking one of his legs over the other, nestling himself comfortably into the trunk of the tree.

His peace was short lived when the bulky son of Mars made his way over to Leo and sat down next to him, not saying a word. Leo and Frank had become somewhat close over the past couple of years and they had both come to understand each other well.

Frank hadn't said anything, but Leo knew what he wanted to ask. So he answered, "It's weird. Camp Half Blood is so much different then I remember. I like the changes… but, I don't know." He ran his hands through his hair in frustration, "It's different." He decided with a sigh.

Frank nodded in agreement.

Leo took the scrap and put it in his tool belt, deciding instead to look down at the camp. His spot, conveniently, had a great view of most of the camp, including the cabins and big house. But things were different. Roman architecture had been incorporated into the camp, not to mention some cabins designated for Roman visitors. Not that he didn't like Romans. In fact…

"So," Frank said suddenly, "I wanted to ask you something."

"Uh oh." Leo laughed, "This can't be good. The last time you were curious, I almost drowned."

"Right…" Frank said, turning red slightly, "Sorry about that. But seriously, I was wondering something."

"Shoot." Leo said, deciding to take out his scrap again. Curse his ADHD. He couldn't keep still for a moment.

"Are you and Reyna…" Frank turned even redder before hesitatingly finishing his sentence, "…dating?"

For a moment Leo blinked. Then he burst into laughter, leaning back into the tree. Frank looked at him quizzically, waiting for Leo to finish. After several, extremely hilarious seconds, Leo had calmed down. Turning to Frank, he said, "Dude. You locked me and Reyna on the roof of your apartment. We basically announced to all of New Rome that we were dating when we had to call down for help and the Romans found me and Reyna holding hands, with lipstick all over my face. Why in the world would you ask me if we were dating?"

"That's not what I meant!" Frank said sheepishly, "Well, there's this rumor going around, and I just wanted to know, well, Jason asked me to ask you because he was too embarrassed, and he still doesn't trust Reyna, and Hazel says it's entirely possible and Piper thinks its adorable, Percy is a bit shocked, because, well, Reyna, and Annabeth was like, 'Leo needs someone like Reyna—'"

"Woah, woah! Slow down Zhang! Try breaking that up into sentences and making some sense, will ya?" Leo laughed, thoroughly confused.

"Well, there's a rumor going around that you and Reyna are engaged."

If Leo had been drinking coffee, Frank would've had a face full of spit up espresso. Luckily, all Leo could do was choke on nothing.

"I'll take that as a no…" Frank said, "That's weird though, both the camps are buzzing. This is bigger than Jason and Piper. Or, well, it was, I'm not sure how this rumor started."

"Yeah, what? No. No. Man, listen to me. If I was engaged, I'm pretty sure I would know." But as Leo said it, his heart began to beat faster. If he knew Reyna, and he did, there was a good chance that he wouldn't know until his wedding day. She had a habit of deciding things without consulting others.

"Okay…although if I were you, I would make sure." Frank said before standing up. "Let me know how it goes."

"How what goes?" Leo asked before realizing that Reyna was marching toward them, her purple toga pulled over her black shirt and jeans with a sword hanging around her waist. Frank gave him a thumbs up before walking away and nodding to Reyna as they crossed paths.

Thanks for nothing, Leo thought to himself. He would have to give Frank a lecture on how to be less annoying later. As for now, he had to deal with Reyna.

"Hey." Reyna said, sitting next to Leo. She stretched her legs out and leaned back onto the tree trunk so their shoulders touched. Leo's head almost burst into flames, not only because of their close proximity, but also because tension caused by his new information.

"So," Leo said, "I heard this ridiculous rumor today."

"Really?" Reyna said, raising her eyebrows with a half smile. "You should know by now Valdez that I don't enjoy gossip."

"You, my lady, should know that I do." Leo retaliated. Reyna laughed and Leo took that as a sign to continue. "So, I heard that a certain Praetor is engaged to a certain graecus."

"Please Leo, even I know that Jason and Piper are engaged. Tell me something I don't know."

"I meant a certain fire-wielding graecus." Leo said, searching Reyna's face for any break in emotion. When she didn't react, Leo managed to chuckle nervously, "It's ridiculous, right?"

"I don't know…" Reyna said, as if pondering the thought. "I can understand why people would think that. First, we have been dating for almost two years." She ticked off one finger, "Second, although you haven't officially moved in, you tend to spend the majority of your time at my place," another finger, "Aurum and Argentum actually like you," another finger, "and you happened to give me a ring that I may or may not wear on my ring finger."

Leo looked down and noticed that the ring he had given her years back graced her left hand. His mind whirled with emotions; he didn't know what to think. Marry Reyna? He loved her, there was no doubt about that, but marry? Was he ready for that? Why not, he reasoned. He couldn't imagine himself living out his days with anyone else. The only option was to grow as an old grumpy bachelor. That wouldn't be fun. He was too young though, wasn't he? What was the legal age limit for getting married? Twenty one is the legal drinking age, he knew that. Not that it helped in any way. He tried to think of him and Reyna growing old and gray together, having kids, going grocery shopping. Oh Gods, that would be a mess—

"Leo?" Leo shook his head and noticed that Reyna was looking at him concernedly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, what makes you say that?" Leo tried to ask calmly, although he suspected that he squeaked.

"You're on fire." Leo looked down and saw his fists and shoulders had caught on fire. Quickly, he patted down the flames. He saw Reyna looking at him sadly, "I'm sorry. It's just that you took so long and I thought we would get married eventually. You know me, I don't like wasting time. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Upset? No! Not at all!" Leo laughed, deciding to take the entire 'marriage' ordeal with stride, "Just a bit surprised. You know. It's not every day you learn you are engaged. Although, a proposal would have been nice."

"A proposal?" Reyna asked, the word sounding foreign in her mouth.

"Yeah, not a problem though. Who needs proposals anyway, totally outdated." Leo said, waving it off.

Reyna frowned, "No."

"No?" Leo asked, "Are we not engaged anymore?"

"Shut up Valdez and stand up." Reyna ordered. Leo did as he was told. Reyna got down on one knee and looked up at him, "Leo, will you accept my hand in marriage?"

"What about the rest of you?" Leo joked.

Reyna stood up, hands on her hips an exasperated look on her face, "Answer the question!"

Leo stroked his chin, as if he were thinking about it. "I don't know…" When he saw the disappointed expression on Reyna's face he put his hands around her waist and bent down to kiss her. "Marry the most brilliant and beautiful demigod to ever walk this earth…What do you think?" He whispered with a grin.

He looked down to see a gorgeous smile on her face. "I think," she said, "it's time we put rumors to rest."

He leaned down for another kiss, "Later?"

"Later." She agreed.


	15. Yada Yada Yada

"And we got married, had a wonderful baby girl, yada yada yada. The end." The old man finished with a quick bow and grin.

His daughter laughed and gave her father a hug. "That was better than any of the silly bedtime stories you used to tell me as a kid. Like that one about your table…"

"Hey, that was a Buford classic!" He said indignantly, but he hugged her back anyway. With a sigh he said, "Mija. Thanks for listening."

"Papa!" She exclaimed, "Thanks for telling me."

"Bah! You're just saying that to make your old man feel better."

The young woman put her hands on her hips. Like her mother used to do, he reminisced. "Don't you dare. If I remember correctly, I asked you to tell me the story."

"I know, I know." He said, his mind wandering off. She looked so much like her mother. The straight black hair, the permanent frown in her brows. Oh Gods, he missed her so much.

The woman watched her father look off in the direction of the purple chaise longue. She remembered sitting in that chair, her mother behind her, braiding her hair. She remembered her mother sipping her hot chocolate cautiously, so as to not burn her tongue. She remembered her mother, after picking her up from school, collapsing on the chair, massaging her temples.

She knew her father missed her mother, but how could she reassure him? How could she make him feel better? Only one person knew how to do that, and she wasn't there anymore…

Suddenly her phone rang. A soft Latin tune came from her pocket, and the woman reached down and saw her fiancé's name pop up on the screen. She looked toward her father, but he still was still staring at the chair, deep in thought. Taking a breath, she picked up the phone.

"Hello?" She said softly.

"Hey, are you okay?" The woman smiled, imagining her fiancé's concerned face on the other end. "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted at you."

"No," She laughed weakly, "You were right. And I shouldn't have slapped you."

"It was a pretty dramatic exit, I have to admit. I was pretty shocked."

"Did you put some ice on it?"

"It wasn't that bad, I've been injured worse. I think you were holding back."

"Yeah, well, consider yourself lucky."

He chuckled on the other end, "So, where are you? Should I pick you up?"

"I'm with my dad. I think I'll keep him company for a while. He's not feeling well."

"Does he have a cold?" The young woman laughed. She didn't think her father had ever gotten a cold. "Why are you laughing?"

"Nothing." She answered quickly. "No, he's just missing mom."

"Oh. Then stay with him. Don't worry about it. I guess I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay."

"Love you." Her heart warmed. With all the planning, in-laws and overall stress, she couldn't remember the last time they had said those words to each other. Smiling, she replied, "Love you too."

Slipping the phone back into her jean pocket, the woman went into the kitchen and came out with two more cups of coffee. "Have some coffee." She whispered, curling up next to him like she used to when she was a child, cupping the mug in her hands. Her father stared down at his cup forlornly.

"She had the prettiest eyes." He started, "You remember that, don't you? And when she was really angry, her nose would become red. And the only way to get her to forgive you was if you baked her brownies with jelly beans inside. If that didn't work, I used to just use pickup line after pickup line on her until she caved in. Not many knew it, but your mother had a great sense of humor.

And you know, when she laughs really hard, she snorts? Well, I remember this one time I told her a joke. It was actually pretty lame, coming from me. And she was drinking hot chocolate. She snorted some up her nose. Good thing it was cool, otherwise that would have hurt.

I remember that her elbows were pointy. And she had long nails, even when they were cut. And she couldn't cook to save her life. That's why you grew up on tacos and jellybeans. And she understands Spanish, but she never spoke because she had a terrible accent. I always told her that she should try, but she—"

"Dii boni! Don't tell me the two of you sat on that couch moping for the past five months!"

Another woman stood, leaning agains the door frame, a duffle bag in one hand and a rolling suitcase in the other. She was flanked by two metallic dogs. Her long black hair was beginning to grey, but she had a regal air about her.

"Reyna?" The old man asked incredulously, "What are you doing here?"

The young woman stood up and wrapped her arms around her mother. "You were going to stay with Aunt Hylla for another two months!"

"Well, I realized that I wasn't having much fun after a while, because I left my little girl and flammable husband at home." She said, arching her eyebrow, but keeping her arms around her daughter. The old man grinned at his wife and bounced up, filled with enough energy to set off a nuclear bomb. Rushing toward them, he nearly toppled his wife and daughter over with his embrace.

"I missed you so freaking much, you don't understand!" The man said, not letting go. "Don't leave me ever again. I don't care if I have to wear an orange jumpsuit with a collar, next time I am coming with you."

"Stop being such a drama queen, Leo. I'm going to make myself a cup of hot chocolate." She said, pulling her husband and daughter off of her. "Anyone want some?"

The older woman walked out of the room, knowing that they wouldn't. She stepped into the kitchen and took out her own mug. "I can't believe Valdez." She muttered as she pulled out some milk from the fridge. "Ridiculous. If no one knew better, they would think I was dead."

Turning on the gas, she shook her head.


End file.
